The Roaring 20s

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Transcript of The Roaring 20s

THE 1920'sThe 1920s a time of changePeople changed their looksThe way they dressedThe music they listened toTheir dancing techniques tooAnd partied all night longMost commonly known as "THE ROARING TWENTIES"People drank all dayAn era that began on January 1, 1920ended December 31, 1929&A time when people evolvedThe United States during the 1920s"The Lost Generation"ProhibitionBaseballFirst Olympic Winter GamesFirst Talking MovieFlapper Dresses in StyleFirst Academy AwardHistorical Events that occurred during the 1920sWhy do you think the 1920's is called the "Roaring 20's?"Based on the images and videos you just saw, what was life like during the 1920's?The United States emerged from WWI as a world power. The nation turned inward, seeking prosperity and a return to normalcyGROWING INDUSTRIES1908: Model T Sells for $8501925: Model T Sells for $290Revolutionized the moving assembly line (process that greatly reduced the cost of building a product) and offered two industry firsts:$5 a day wage for workers (most companies offered $2-$3). This is about $120 todayAllowed to buy cars on installment plansThe rise of the automobile affected the entire American EconomySteel for car bodiesrubber for tiresglass for windowsPaving highwaysBuilding bridgesGas StationsRestaurantsMotelsCar Repair shopsCar Insurance1929: 85% of all Americans living in towns or cities had electricityCompanies responded by building new electrical appliances designed to make household chores easier such as washing machines, vacuum cleaners, and refrigeratorsBy the 1920s, more than half of the country's population lived in Urban AreasA new youth culture developed, which included going to parties and dance clubs, listening to popular music, and driving fast carsHigh School Attendance doubled during the decade and the percentage of students going on to college was higher in the United States than in any other countryFlappers: Young women who expressed their freedom by cutting their hair short and wearing short dresses and makeup.PROHIBITIONDuring WWI, many Americans supported prohibition because it conserved grains during the war1919: States ratify the 18th Amendment which prohibits the making, selling, or transporting alcoholSaloons shut down, arrests for drunkenness declined. There was a drop in the amount of alcohol that people consumed, especially working people for whom the high price of illegal liquor was an obstacleProhibition proved impossible to enforceMany people found ways to make alcohol at home using household productsOthers bought alcohol at Speakeasies, or illegal barsBootleggers would smuggle alcohol from Canada, Mexico, or the Caribbean and make huge profits from importing illegal alcoholGangsters were able to avoid arrest by bribing local police and politicians.In Chicago, Al "Scarface" Capone gained control of the alcohol trade by murdering his rivals. By 1927, Capone was earning more than $60 million a year from illegal businesses.By the end of the decade, prohibition had reduced alcohol consumption but had not stopped Americans from drinking. Instead, prohibition had created new ways for criminals to grow richWithout government supervision of alcohol production, much of the alcohol consumed in speakeasies was more dangerous than what had been produced before prohibition.ADVANTAGES OF PROHIBITIONPROBLEMS WITH PROHIBITION1933: State and Federal governments approve the 21st amendment which repeals prohibitionThe RadioAlmost any family could afford to buy a radio. The radio became the leading supplier of entertainment as families would listen to music, baseball games or political conventionsMOVIESIn 1927, the first major "talkie" created a movie sensationActors like Charlie Chaplin became celebritiesAnimated films began in the 1920sWalt Disney was founded in 1923Americans were buying 95 million movie tickets each week (US population was only 123 million)BASEBALLFans packed stadiums to see George Herman Ruth shatter home run recordsHit his record breaking 60th HR (single season) in 1927American Swimmer Gertrude Ederle became the first woman to swim the English Channel between England and France and she beat the men's record by almost two hours1927: Charles Lindbergh completes the first nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean, traveling from New York to Paris1932: Amelia Earhart becomes the first women to fly solo across the Atlantic OceanJAZZ AGEEmergence of a new "breed" of music and artists like Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday and Duke Ellington1920's LiteratureHenry Ford was the first industrial giant to give workers both Saturday and Sunday off, in hope that it would encourage more leisure use of automobiles, and thus popularizing the idea of the "weekend"At the time of his death (1947); Henry Ford was worth $188.1 Billion in 2008 dollarsBottom line; people's opinion of prohibition was...